Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-07-31
SING SING.
SOME OF THE FEATURES OF rHEaRgAT
NEW YORK PRISON.
The Daily Routine Of Jake sharp's Hext
Abods-Habits Of Certain
Prisoners.


Warden Brush, the reporter asked the
genial official: "What is the usual
eject upon new convict when he
finds himself at last in PRISON."
"Benumbed, was the prompt reply.
"You know low a blow on the head
will affect the brain ? Well, it is
something like that; the man seems
stunned. He has borne up by the ex-
element Of his trial &c has neryed
himself for bis sentence and has tried
TO appear well before his friends but
when be gets here the reaction sets in (;
he begins to realize his awful fate and
becomes stupefed and bewildered. SO
We promptly PIT him to work. That
gives him something to do and to think
about. and saves him from himself"
Only q comparatively few persons
visit prison or apply themselves
closely enough to study OF the sub
jcct to form any idea of the terrible ma
ture of penal servitude at its best. A
certain class Of criminals undoubtedly
spend their lives in getting out OF
prison and getting in again. In Sing
Sing last year there were from time to
time 337 convicts who had been COM
mitted twice, 100 for the third
time, while 2 were there for the
seventh and 1 was there for the
tenth time. But there were 1882 ont
of total of 1,5S2 who had never been
in prison before. The statistics also show
that / ,074 prisoners were between the
ages of eighteen and thirty years, aud
that BIS, or one third of the total num-
Der, were between the ages of eighteen
and twenty four years. 1t is, there
fore, largely to the regeneration OF
young men that any system OF criminal
treatment at such institutions must be
applied.
Viewed from the outside, Sing-Sing
prison can supply little food by which
the imagination may even approach
anything like vision of the reality.
A twelve-acre plot of ground on the
er-side, in which are crowded to-
gether a series of workshops and a
long stretch Of cold gray.stone wall
filed with little barred openings which
serve as windows, are all that can be
seen. The first thing that chills the soul
Of the sympathetic visitor as he steps be-
hind the grated door and moves along
the hall is the narrow cell, the mere
slit in the great wall, in which aprison-
or spends his time when he Is not at
work. Let the reider measure OF the
space as it is given him. This apart
mont is 81 feet wide, feet long, AMI
q feet high, with capacity Of less
than 100 cubic feet. Ills much of
Gods earth, little more than the di-
mansions Of an ordinary grave, Is al
lottod to the miserable conyicts in
one Of the chief prisons OF New
York State. A still more unplea-
SAINT reflection, especially at this
Leated season Of the year, is that two
hundred cells in Sing-Sing prison Of
the above dimensions are occupied the
year round by two prisoners each ne
cause the people Of the State, through
its Legislature, refuse perSistcntly to
provide ample accommodations for the
care Of these unfortunates. It
is croditable to the humane
instincts and kind-heartedncss Of
the warden and his assistant.
that nothing is left undone to render
the prisoners deccntly comfortable
with the facilities at hand. Once every
thirty days every cell receives a coat OF
wbitowash, and the corridors are
scrubbed out every other day. No one
regrets more than Warden Brush the
necessity of "doubling up" as the sys-
tom OF putting two conyicts in one cell
is termed.
Continuing, M Brush said There
is nothing that distrosses me more than
this transfer of prisoners. We have
sent one hundred men already to Gin
ton prison, fifty more go tomorrow,
and fifty next week. These fellows will
10 anything to stay here. They often
feiCn sickness. Their relatives come
here and plead for them, and it IS some
times heaitrending to see them. You
see, the most of these men are from
New York city. Sing Sing isn't far
away, and their friends can run
up here every two months with
out much expense, and you have
no idea how longingly they look
forward to these visits. Oftentimes 1t
is all that keeps up their hopes. But
every now and then we get overcrowd-
ed and must make draft for transfer.
They are sent off to distant points.
Their friends are too poor to stand the
expense Of visiting them, AMI 50 they
are absolutely cut off from everything.
They droop right down and give up to
despair. | have Seen many poor fell
low so ont OF here crying. | believe
it has ruined many a one who might
otherwise have been saved. 1t is cruel.
but we cannot help it under the cir
cumstances.
A stroll past the open doors Of the
cells reveals different degrees OF taste
and tidiness in them. In some the
walls are bare and they are destitute of
everything but the narrow bed. In
others strip OF carpet, sent by friend
or relative, covers the stone floor, AMI
prints or photographs are fastened to
the wall. The reporter entered one OF
the latter class. Near the head OF the
bed was a pen-and-ink sketch evidently
drawn by a juvenile hand. The words
Pretty Poll were at the top. Be-
meath were the outlines Of a parrot
and under that the simple inscription :
1887. BY Georgia" The imaginl-
ton OF tie reader can trace the spirit
of innocence and love in every rough
drawn line. 1t is g very Old story, in
deed, which this picture tells father
in prison and child in Ignorance OF
his unhappy whereabouts. This picture
prompted Warden Brush to relate an
incident which occurred some time ago.
A certain convict, considerably above
the ordinary grade, was visited by his
wife, who was richly though modestly
dressed. She was accompanied by their
little girl. In such cases the warden
supplies the men with blue blouse TO
conceal the prison garb, believing that
it does no harm to shield a sensitive
man from unnecessary modification,
while the sensibilities OF little children
advancing toward a reasoning age are
thereby spared dissgreeable impressions
and memories in years to CONE. The
convict entered and afectionately kiss
cd his wife and child, with whom he
conversed throughout the thirty mi
nutes to which they are limited on such
occasions. At last the moment for